1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to apparatus for extracting corks from bottles. A number of features are desirable in such an apparatus. One of the most important of these is that the corkscrew portion of the apparatus be well centered in the cork during operation, so as to ensure the removal of the entire cork, and minimize the possibility of breaking the cork and permitting the resulting fragments to fall into the wine in the bottle. Another important consideration is that the corkscrew must be pulled in a substantially straight line along its own axis when the cork is being removed, and this axis should ordinarily be substantially aligned with that of the bottle, so as to facilitate removal. Another desirable feature in cork-extracting apparatus is the provision of means to reduce the manual force required to drive the corkscrew into the cork and/or to extract the cork from the bottle. There is also a need for preventing small cork fragments from breaking off even when the corkscrew is driven completely through the cork.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior applications, cross-referenced above, of which this application is a continuation-in-part disclose cork extractors which meet the above needs. These applications describe a simple, inexpensive apparatus for extracting a cork from a bottle as well as an improved corkscrew proper which may be used to advantage in said apparatus as well as in virtually any other type of corkscrew or cork extractor. The apparatus includes a holder and a cork-engaging member. The cork-engaging member includes the corkscrew per se and abutment means, such as a handle, carried on the corkscrew and engageable with the holder to limit downward movement of the cork-engaging member with respect to the holder in use. The holder includes guide means having a guide passageway extending generally longitudinally therethrough. The guide passageway has guide surface means facing generally radially inwardly and is sized to lie closely adjacent the outer diameter of the corkscrew helix, the corkscrew being rotatably and longitudinally movable in the guide passage. The holder further includes stop means engageable with the bottle to limit downward movement of the holder with respect to the bottle as well as grip means spaced downwardly from the guide means and engageable with the bottle to radially align the guide means with the bottle. Thus, the grip means in conjunction with the stop means of the holder serve to generally radially center and coaxially align the guide means, and thus the corkscrew received therein, with the bottle and its cork.
By rotating the cork-engaging member and, at least initially, simultaneously exerting a downward force thereon, the corkscrew may be driven into the cork while still properly centered and aligned therewith by the holder. When the abutment means of the cork-engaging member comes into abutment with the holder, thereby preventing further downward movement of the cork-engaging member, continued rotation of that member in the same direction will cause the cork to rise on the helical corkscrew, the guide means being spaced above the top of the bottle by a sufficient distance to permit such movement.
The corkscrew itself is improved by the provision of a central body, e.g. of high tensile metal, covered by an outer layer of friction-reducing material, such as polytetrafluoroethylene, on at least one portion of the downwardly facing surfaces of the central body. This greatly enhances the ease with which the corkscrew may be driven into the cork. This friction-reducing expedient not only virtually eliminates any problem in easily penetrating a tight cork, but also permits the use of design features in the central body which could not be used without the friction-reducing layer and which themselves enhance the ease of insertion and otherwise improve the corkscrew. Accordingly, the friction-reducing layer on the corkscrew is largely instrumental in making the relatively simple apparatus described above effective in easily penetrating and properly removing even extremely hard and/or tight corks.
The corkscrew also has an improved lower pointed tip portion which is formed in such a way that it eliminates the tendency for small cork fragments to be broken away, even when the corkscrew is driven completely through the cork. This effect is further enhanced by the friction-reducing layer mentioned above so that the possibility of contamination of wine by cork fragments is virtually eliminated.